Rebirth is fine, but I get eight hundred dollars right from the start?

"Welcome back—this is the live broadcast of the League of Legends All-Star event in Shanghai!"

Inside the Shanghai Grand Stage.

The lights refocused on the commentary platform in the center of the stage, and Wawa's signature hearty laughter filled the entire venue through the sound system.

"The first day of the All-Star Skills Challenge has now concluded."

Miller continued, "Yes, and our LPL region, as the host, also achieved an excellent record of two wins in two matches, with top laner Tale and jungler Clearlove both advancing to the next round."

When he read out the IDs "Tale" and "Clearlove," his pronunciation was a bit more standard than usual, clearly remembering the official reminder from today's pre-match briefing: "Outsiders are also watching, so don't give out too many nicknames."

Wawa chimed in smoothly, "The remaining skill matches for the mid laner and bot lane duo will take place on the second day of the All-Star game—tomorrow at 1:30 PM sharp."

"Yes, don't miss the exciting match. If you're worried about forgetting the match time, you can click the follow button in the upper right corner of our live broadcast room. You will receive a pop-up notification 30 minutes before the match."

The explanatory content, which served as a bridge between the preceding and following points, was not extensive, but that did not stop the two from keeping busy for a while.

Finally, after reciting the GG word provided by the All-Star event sponsor, Wawa raised her voice again.

"So... next, you'll see the first 5v5 regional matchup of our All-Star event!"

Miller nodded and announced: "The LPL representative team will face off against the LCS.NA team from the North American region!"

"As we can see on camera now, both players are in their seats, making their final preparations before the match."

"Cough cough..."

The doll coughed lightly and began the usual warm-up routine before the BP (Ban/Pick) session.

"Miller, regarding today's first 5v5 match of our All-Star event, what's your take on the outcome of the game between the two teams?"

"As a commentator for the LPL region, my first thought is definitely that I hope the LPL team can win."

Miller analyzed seriously, "The five players from the NA region are all quite skilled individually, and the bot lane even has a world-class AD like Doublelift with excellent laning ability."

"The mid and jungle lanes also have good synergy, and the top laner's stats in the North American regular season are also impressive."

"..."

Miller spoke with great seriousness, but some people in the audience were already laughing.

【? ? ? 】

When the first question mark appeared in the comments, a string of questions followed.

[Does this even need analysis? My grandma could say LPL is a sure win.]

Miller, I can't understand that serious face of yours.

Why do the commentators make it sound like our LPL region is inferior to the North American region? (laughing and crying)

[I'm trying to build up my good karma; being a commentator isn't easy!]

[That's right, the commentators are sitting in the commentary booth, they can't just say "the other side is just here to give away points"—as long as the performance is passable, that's fine.]

[North American Region: We're strong! Miller: Yeah, you guys are strong. Now let's analyze how the LPL will crush you.]

[Double Brother is indeed a world-class AD carry, but he's facing WeiXiao, not to mention the world's best mid laner.]

It's not that I'm overconfident, I just played blindly this game.

Uh, opening champagne at halftime is a no-go...

[It's already started, and even the North American audience didn't have high hopes. (Laughs) Here are some comments from other regions.]

[(Reddit repost) Did I hear that right? LPL commentators are praising our players?]

Scarra's laning ability is strong? What? Your LPL's mid laner is the best in the world!

[NA region's mid-jungle synergy is impressive, should we be careful? Hahaha, I have to say LPL commentators are number one at blatantly lying.]

[Shit! You have the world's best mid laner and the world's best jungler, and then you turn around and praise our region's mid and jungle? Are you trying to humiliate us?]

[Don't be angry, buddy. Based on my understanding of Chinese people, this is just their so-called virtue of humility. Their culture requires them not to be 100% certain of their team's victory before a match; that would be tantamount to arrogance and disrespect for the opponent.]

【…】

This scene reminded me of a TV station broadcasting the snooker team and their players.

[Understood: Yoshimura's power and serve are already world-class!]

Unfortunately, the opponent is a well-rounded fighter! (laughs)

As the live stream chat was filled with comments.

Miller continued, a barely suppressed smile finally appearing on his lips: "In terms of overall roster depth and on-field performance stability—the LPL region does indeed have a certain advantage in these two dimensions."

He deliberately emphasized the word "certainly" in a low voice, as if he was giving the other side face. "Furthermore, judging from the performance of the LPL players in the first two solo matches today, their individual abilities and teamwork are at the forefront."

Wawa chimed in at the opportune moment: "So after all that, your conclusion is still that LPL has a better chance of winning."

Miller pushed up his glasses, finally dropping the pretense: "If you insist on me telling the truth—from our roster strength to our current form to our home advantage, aren't we at the top of the game? I really don't see any surprises in this match."

A burst of laughter and applause erupted in the stadium, and someone whistled, only to be silenced by the person next to them.

The barrage of comments went completely wild, with a screen full of phrases like "You should have said so earlier," "Tell the truth," and "That would have solved everything."

The director switched back to the BP interface, and on the big screen, the IDs of the ten players from both sides, in blue and purple, lit up one by one.

The doll brought the conversation to a close, the two exchanged a glance, then simultaneously turned to the camera, their smiles instantly fading.

"OK, the preparation phase is complete, business planning (BP) will officially begin!"

……

Within the North American regional team.

"Guys, what's your decision? Three bans for mid lane, or leave one spot for top lane?"

Xpecial, the support player from TSM, was the first to break the silence.

Scarra nodded vigorously without hesitation, her wisps of hair at the back of her head trembling slightly: "Three bans. All for mid lane."

"If you don't want that monster on the other side to grow into a boss-level mid laner and dominate all three lanes in ten minutes."

"Listen to me, Scarra, you should be more confident."

"I'm very confident, at least I said ten minutes!"

"Alright! Alright, three bans for mid lane!"

"I……"

Dyrus opened his mouth, wanting to secure a ban for his top laner as well.

Judging from Tale's crushing defeat of SOAZ yesterday, and considering that he is roughly equal to SOAZ, the outcome of a matchup against him might not be much better.

However, since the team's core carry had spoken, he had no choice but to accept it.

There was no way around it; in Season 3, the mid lane was absolutely the core.

If something goes wrong in the middle lane, then their side lanes won't fare much better.

"The question now is, which heroes should we consider banning with those three ban slots?"

"Robbery!"

"The Enchantress!"

"fox!"

"I think we also need to consider the clockwork mechanism."

Less than a meter behind them, an LPL official referee, who was assigned by the organizers to record the progress of the event and provide material for the later promotion of esports, was standing behind the group. His pen was suspended in mid-air, with the tip less than two centimeters away from the paper, but it just wouldn't fall.

His lips twitched twice, and his eyebrows went from being flat to twisted, and then from twisted to a complex, indescribable arc.

His ears were filled with words like "I think," "should," "or else," and "okay," which kept coming out of the mouths of the five people in front of him.

Having grown accustomed to the disciplined and methodical tactical preparations of the HWG team in the LPL region, suddenly having to listen to this kind of discussion, which resembles playing games in an internet cafe, is somewhat overwhelming.

The referee glanced down at the blank score sheet in his hand, then looked up at the five people still arguing about whether Orianna was worth banning, and silently swallowed.

He finally put down his pen without writing a single word.

Forget it, let's wait a bit longer. I can't remember all this stuff right now.

(Two chapters, 5 words each, are posted. I'm feeling much better today. I'll go for a check-up tomorrow, and if everything's fine, I'll resume updates. I'll try to add more chapters this week.)